Belt mounting in safety belt buckles



Se t. 27, 1966 w. F. HAMANN 3,274,656

BELT MOUNTING IN SAFETY BELT BUCKLES Filed May 28, 1964 flaw FlGls 72 FIGJ. 74 76 75 5 1 18 no.7. Fl6.8.

WALTER F. HnMAN/v INVENTOR BY flw M dffom gy United States Patent Oflice 3,274,656 Patented Sept. 27, 1966 3,274,656 BELT MOUNTING IN SAFETY BELT BUCKLES Walter F. Hamann, Huntington, N.Y., assignor to American Safety Equipment Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed May 28, 1964, Ser. No. 370,930 2 Claims. (Cl. 24-196) extending between and connecting the side walls on the a body of the buckle. Said flange or partition has and transmits considerable strain imposed on it by the pull exerted on the belt. It is therefore a prime object of the invention to provide a novel buttress or abutment which will resist strain and be considerably stronger than an upstanding partition and which will also co-operate with the belt-engaging rod, whether knurled or smooth, in producing opposing gripping surfaces or areas between which the belt will be firmly engaged to prevent its withdrawal under a pulling force exerted on it.

In many buckles of the type employed on safety belts, one example of which is disclosed in the said patent to Brown 3,078,568, one end of the belt is adapted to be detachably secured in the buckle by being looped around a cylindrical rod or bar that is provided with a knurled or roughened peripheral surface, such surface being primarily employed to resist slippage of the belt when a withdrawal pull is exerted on it. By repeated adjustment of the belt through the buckle and around the rod, with the rod being non-rotative, frictional contact of the belt with the knurling on the rod often causes wear on the belt, necessitating replacement. Moreover, it has also been found difiicult in the manufacture of these buckles to secure uniformity of the knurling on the belt-engaging rod, so that in many instances the knurling was either too dull to be really effective to provide for suitable frictional engagement with the belt, or else the knurling presented sharp abrasive elements which by their friction with the belt tended to greatly reduce the useful life of the belt.

It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide in a buckle of this kind and in conjunction with the said novel buttress or abutment a belt-engaging rod or cylinder around which the belt is looped, a rod which may omit knurling or other roughness on its periphery to present a smooth peripheral surface against which the belt will contact. By reason of the arrangement of such rod in the body of the buckle with respect to the abutment, a firm engagement with the belt therebetween can be effected to prevent sliding movement of the belt on the imposition of a withdrawal force or load placed on it.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view, with its cover fragmentarily shown, of a safety belt buckle constructed according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, but with a belt-end in position;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the belt-receiving rod;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the rod;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of one end of the body of the buckle, showing a modified construction, and

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are modified constructions of the belt-receiving rod.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the body or base portion of the buckle, the same having a bottom wall 2 and side walls 3, the body 1 being thus of channel shape.

The cover member for the buckle is shown at 4 and it may be provided with a top wall 5 and downward-lyextending side walls 6 formed integrally with the top wall. In the closed position of the cover, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the walls 6 thereof fit on the outside of the side walls 3 of the body.

The cover member 4 is suitably secured to the side walls 3 of the body as by a pivot 7 so that the cover member may be raised or lowered. A belt-end fitting or plate 8, to which a belt-end 9 is permanently attached is adapted to be inserted in the body member, and suitable locking mean-s or engaging means such as that shown in Patent 3,078,538 or of some other construction, is operative to engage plate 8 and hold it coupled .to the body 1 when the cover is down. Said plate-engaging means acts to release plate 8 when the cover member is raised inany suitable manner. The plate-engaging means is not shown nor described in detail herein since it forms no part of the present invention.

Side walls 3 near one end of the buckle body are each provided with an inclined slot 10 in which the beltengaging member or rod 11 is slidably mounted, said rod being provided at its opposite ends with flat lugs or integral extensions 12 which fit and are slidiably positioned within the slots 10. As can be noted in FIG. 5, the lugs 12 are positioned so that they lie substantially above the transverse center line of the rod to maintain the longitudinal position there o-f low. The slots 10 .are preferably of such a length that the lower end of the same terminates relatively close to the top of a buttress or reinforcement shown as an abutment 13 formed of a part of the bottom wall 2 of the body.

Abutment 13 is produced preferably by the turning or folding over of a strip portion of the bottom wall 2, thus forming a double-thickness area on that part of the wall which defines one edge of the belt-passage slot 14 in the bottom wall of the buckle body. To reinforce abutment 13 means are provided such as lugs 15a formed from the side walls 3 of body 1 to be superposed over part 15 thereof. After part 15 of abutment 13 is flatly turned over on top of bottom wall 2, it presents a smoothly rounded arcuately-shaped edge 16 which is adapted to co-operate with a part of the rod 11 to grip the belt firmly therebetween and to hold the same against withdrawal out of the buckle. Rod 11 may be knurled or smooth, depending upon requirements.

From the foregoing, the operation of the belt-engaging means will be readily understood. The belt-end shown at 1-7 is passed up through the bottom slot 14 and is first looped around rod 11 and then passed between the rod and the rounded edge 16 of the abutment or buttress -13. Rod 11 may be cylindrical or of any selective curved or polygonal shape as exemplified by the oval and square configurations 11a and 11b to afford engaging sectors.

As is shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9, the peripheral surface of aforestated rod 11 may have modified engaging sectors. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, rod 11 is formed with a longitudinally-extending arcuate groove 18 generally conforming in curvature to the curvature of the rounded edge 16 of the abutment 13. When a pull is exerted on the belt-end 17, the rod 1 1 will be shifted downwardly in the slots 10 toward the lower ends of said slots, and, as groove 18 is moved toward abutment or buttress 13, a portion of the belt-end 17 will be grippingly engaged between the grooved part of the rod and the arcuate part of the abutment and will thus be prevented from withdrawal out of the buckle under load or by a pull exerted on it. The belt-end 17 can be readily detached or shifted for the purpose of adjustment through the buckle by moving the belt therethrough at an angle which can be relatively sharp to permit free movement of the belt. The longitudinal arcuate groove 18 is shown as a longitudinal fiat portion 20 in FIG. 7 while FIG. 8 shows the groove 18 serrated or roughened'as at 2 1. If desired, flat portion 20 may also be so modified for frictional aid to engagement of the belt end.

It is to be noted'that when rod 11 is in its full beltgripping position, it is located at or near the lower end of the slots and thus situated relatively close to the base of the side walls 3. Therefore, any tendency of the side walls 3 to spread apart under pull or load imposed on the rod by the belt will be materially reduced because of the close proximity of the rod to the lower ends of the side walls 3. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower ends of the slots 10 terminate beyond the forward rounded edge of the abutment or buttress 13'.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, abutment 13 as heretofore stated is-formed by overturning a part of the bottom wall 2, the part 1-5 of the abutment being flatly pressed down upon the underlying part of the wall 2. This provides for an edge on the abutment which will be no thicker than two thicknesses of the bottom wall. If it should be found desirable to provide for a greater belt-contacting surface on the abutment, the construction shown at 13a in FIG. 6 can be employed. In this embodiment the upper strip portion shown at 15b is folded over in a manner to result in a loop formation, thus providing for the rounded surface 16a to have a larger arc than is shown at 16.

Because of the nature of the belt-engaging and cooperating rod and abutment structures, surfaces and the relative positioning thereof and all as described above, the invention affords a strong belt attachment structure and a secure grip on the belt after adjustment and under load. 7 The described construction is adapted for insertion of the adjustable end of the belt into the buckle with a minimum of resistance and for firm retention against accidental withdrawal while the described buttress construction affords strength and stiffness to the bodyof the buckle.

Having thus described an embodiment of the invention,

it is understood that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is to embrace all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. A buckle having a body provided with a bottom wall and side walls, the bottom wall having an opening constituting a belt passage, a portion of said bottom wall being turned over inwardly upon itself to locate such turned-over portion on the inside of the body and between the side walls thereof to thereby provide an abutment extending wholly between the side walls and constituting an edge of the opening, the side walls of the body having slots inclined in relation to said bottom wall, a rod slidable in said slots to and from the abutment, said rod having an arcuate edge facing the abutment and adapted for contact therewith, and means extending inwardly from the side walls and overlying the ends of the turned-over portion to thereby confine said portion between them and the inside face of the bottom wall of the body.

2. A buckle according to claim 1, wherein the turned- -over portion is folded over within the body and on top of the inner face thereof at a selected angle to provide a loop wholly located within the body for contact with therod, said loop having a thickness ranging from the combined thicknesses of the bottom wall and the turned-over portion to a thickness in excess of said combined thicknesses.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 983,718 2/1911 Humphrey 24194 2,156,870 5/1939 Rineer et a1 24--196 X 2,542,044 2 1951 Miller et a1 24196 2,754,560 7/1956 Warner et a1 24-196 2,836,868 6/1958 Carter 24 19 6 X 2,977,655 4/ 1961 Peters 24 -196 3,078,538 2/1963 Brown 24230 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,225,045 2/ 1960 France.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

E. SIMO'NSEN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A BUCKLE HAVING A BODY PROVIDED WITH A BOTTOM WALL AND SIDE WALLS, THE BOTTOM WALL HAVING AN OPENING CONSTITUTING A BELT PASSAGE, A PORTION OF SAID BOTTOM WALL BEING TURNED OVER INWARDLY UPON ITSELF TO LOCATE SUCH TURNED-OVER PORTION ON THE INSIDE OF THE BODY AND BETWEEN THE SIDE WALLS THEREOF TO THEREBY PROVIDE AND ABUTMENT EXTENDING WHOLLY BETWEEN THE SIDE WALLS AND CONSTITUTING AN EDGE OF THE OPENING, THE SIDE WALLS OF THE BODY HAVING SLOTS INCLINED IN RELATION TO SAID BOTTOM WALL, A ROD SLIDABLE IN SAID SLOTS TO AND FROM THE ABUTMENT, SAID ROD HAVING AN ARCUATE EDGE FACING THE ABUTMENT AND ADAPTED FOR CONTACT THEREWITH, AND MEANS EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM THE SIDE WALLS AND OVERLYING THE ENDS OF THE TURNED-OVER PORTION TO THEREBY CONFINE SAID PORTION BETWEEN THEM AND THE INSIDE FACE OF THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE BODY. 